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Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting the computer hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of firmware that implement the specification are AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O. UEFI replaces the BIOS which was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible, although it can provide backwards compatibility with the BIOS using CSM booting. Intel developed the original Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification. Some of the EFI's practices and data formats mirror those of Microsoft Windows. In 2005, UEFI deprecated EFI 1.10.
coreboot, formerly known as LinuxBIOS, is a software project aimed at replacing proprietary firmware found in most computers with a lightweight firmware designed to perform only the minimum number of tasks necessary to load and run a modern 32-bit or 64-bit operating system.
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A free and open-source graphics device driver is a software stack which controls computer-graphics hardware and supports graphics-rendering application programming interfaces (APIs) and is released under a free and open-source software license. Graphics device drivers are written for specific hardware to work within a specific operating system kernel and to support a range of APIs used by applications to access the graphics hardware. They may also control output to the display if the display driver is part of the graphics hardware. Most free and open-source graphics device drivers are developed by the Mesa project. The driver is made up of a compiler, a rendering API, and software which manages access to the graphics hardware.
The Apple–Intel architecture, or Mactel, is an unofficial name used for Macintosh personal computers developed and manufactured by Apple Inc. that use Intel x86 processors, rather than the PowerPC and Motorola 68000 ("68k") series processors used in their predecessors or the ARM-based Apple silicon SoCs used in their successors. As Apple changed the architecture of its products, they changed the firmware from the Open Firmware used on PowerPC-based Macs to the Intel-designed Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). With the change in processor architecture to x86, Macs gained the ability to boot into x86-native operating systems, while Intel VT-x brought near-native virtualization with macOS as the host OS.
In the context of free and open-source software, proprietary software only available as a binary executable is referred to as a blob or binary blob. The term usually refers to a device driver module loaded into the kernel of an open-source operating system, and is sometimes also applied to code running outside the kernel, such as system firmware images, microcode updates, or userland programs. The term blob was first used in database management systems to describe a collection of binary data stored as a single entity.
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The PinePhone is a smartphone developed by Hong Kong-based computer manufacturer Pine64, intended to allow the user to have full control over the device. Measures to ensure this are: running mainline Linux-based mobile operating systems, assembling the phone with screws, and simplifying the disassembly for repairs and upgrades. LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and both cameras can be physically switched off. The PinePhone ships with the Manjaro Linux-based operating system using the Plasma Mobile graphic interface, although other distributions can be installed by users.
iodéOS is an Android-based mobile operating system developed by French company iodé. The operating system is a fork of LineageOS and does not include Google Play Services, instead using MicroG as a free and open-source replacement.
The PinePhone Pro is a smartphone developed by Hong Kong-based computer manufacturer Pine64. The phone is the successor to the PinePhone released in 2019. The default operating system is Manjaro ARM, with Plasma Mobile as the user interface. The device is a developer platform with open hardware specifications but with unfinished software. The target group of the device is free and open-source software developers who will develop the software. The device was first shipped to developers in December 2021, and in February 2022 devices were made available to consumers.
References
- ↑ Williams, Elliot (2022-05-14). "Who Is Thinking About Open Source Firmware?". Hackaday . Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ↑ Banik, Subrata (2022). System firmware: an essential guide to open source and embedded solutions. Vincent Zimmer. ISBN 978-1-4842-7939-7. OCLC 1347731078.
- ↑ Ridley, Jacob (2022-04-13). "There's huge potential for this 'unbrickable' open source BIOS now it's running on modern Intel PCs". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ↑ Andreas Giencke (25 September 2022). "How to Set Up & Edit Marlin Firmware". All3DP. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ↑ By (2022-07-12). "Open Firmware For PinePhone LTE Modem – What's Up With That?". Hackaday. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ↑ Shawn Powers (April 2008). "Linux Journal 2008 04 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
